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[/media-credit]RCR Post Race Report — Richmond International Raceway
NASCAR Nationwide Series
RACE: Virginia 529 College Savings 250
TRACK: Richmond International Raceway
Race Highlights:
Richard Childress Racing teammates finished third (Kevin Harvick), sixth (Elliott Sadler) and ninth (Austin Dillon).
Sadler leads the Nationwide Series driver championship point standings by two points over Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., Dillon, Sam Hornish Jr. and Michael Annett complete the top five.
The No. 2 Chevrolet team leads the NASCAR Nationwide Series owner championship point standings, two points ahead of the No. 6 car, with the No. 33 team third in the standings and the No. 3 team fifth.
Harvick’s pole award was his first in the NASCAR Nationwide Series in the 2012 season and the 24th of his career. Harvick led the most laps of the race with 158.
Kurt Busch earned his first win of the 2012 Nationwide Series and was followed to the finish line by Denny Hamlin, Harvick, Stenhouse and Hornish.
The next scheduled Nationwide Series race is the Aaron’s 312 at Talladega Superspeedway on Saturday, May 5. The eighth race of the 2012 season is scheduled to be televised live on ABC beginning at 3 p.m. Eastern Time and broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and Sirius XM Satellite Radio.
Harvick maintained the highest average running position (2.068) throughout the 250-lap event, while Sadler and Dillon were ranked fourth and seventh, respectively.
Harvick also led the field in NASCAR Loop Data categories for Driver Rating (139.0), Fastest Drivers Early in a Run (119.942), Fastest Laps Run (51) and Fastest on Restarts (118.489).
Dillon and Harvick ranked fourth and fifth, respectively, in NASCAR’s Loop Data category for Fastest Drivers Late in a Run.
Dillon leads the Sunoco Rookie of the Year standings over Cole Whitt.
Combined, the RCR entries posted the fastest lap of the race for 70 circuits, or 32.2 percent of the race.
Elliott Sadler Earns Sixth-Place Finish Under Lights at Richmond International Raceway
Elliott Sadler and the No. 2 OneMain Financial team notched a sixth-place result Friday night under the lights at Richmond International Raceway. After qualifying seventh for the Virginia 529 College Savings 250 in front of his hometown crowd, the Emporia, Va., native took the green flag and worked his way into the top 10 for much of the race. While running in the third position as the event reached the halfway mark, Sadler brought the No. 2 Chevrolet to pit road to the attention of the OneMain Financial team under caution for four tires, fuel and a chassis adjustment to help with the forward bite of the Chevrolet. The quick stop allowed the team restart in the fourth position as Sadler pushed toward the front to chase down the leaders. With approximately 50 laps remaining, crew chief Luke Lambert directed the No. 2 Chevrolet team to make a scheduled green-flag pit stop for four tires and fuel. Sadler moved into fourth, but faced an increasingly loose condition. Sadler battled around the 0.75-mile track for the final laps to cross the finish line in the sixth position, marking the team’s sixth top-10 finish of the 2012 season.
Start – 7 Finish – 6 Laps Led – 0 Points – 1
ELLIOTT SADLER QUOTE:
“Tonight was a good effort by the No. 2 OneMain Financial crew. Richmond International Raceway is always a special place to race for me, and I wish that we could have had a better finish, but we will take sixth. On the last run, I used up my stuff at the beginning of the run, and we just got loose. We will regroup and head to Talladega Superspeedway next weekend.”
Austin Dillon Scores a Top-10 Finish in the No. 3 AdvoCare Chevrolet at Richmond International Raceway
Climbing into a NASCAR Nationwide Series car for the first time at Richmond International Raceway since making his Series debut at the track in 2008, Austin Dillon competed in the top-five for much of Friday’s Virginia 529 College Savings 250 before finishing ninth. Dillon started the 250-lap race from the third position in front of an estimated crowd of 42,000 and quickly reported the No. 3 AdvoCare Chevrolet was loose. Crew chief Danny Stockman directed the RCR pit crew to make a number of chassis adjustments during routine pit stops and, in conjunction with hard driving by the 2011 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Champion, the team maintained their position in the top-five throughout much of the race. A chassis adjustment during the team’s final pit stop of the night under green-flag conditions on lap 199 of 250 was not able to alleviate the loose-handling condition and Dillon was unable to drive his way back into the top-five. He settled for a ninth-place finish, his sixth of the seven races contested so far this season, to maintain his third-place ranking in the driver championship standings.
Start – 3 Finish – 9 Laps Led – 0 Points – 3
AUSTIN DILLON QUOTE: “We were side-ways loose on that last run and it made it very challenging to keep control of the No. 3 AdvoCare Chevrolet. Its races like this one that make me thankful for my dirt racing background. I think having that experience made it easier for me to feel comfortable sliding around the track like that. I had fun out there tonight and hopefully we learned some things that we can use when we come back to Richmond International Raceway in September.”
Kevin Harvick and the Fast Fixin’ Crew Capture a Third-Place Finish at Richmond
After dominating the first half of the Virginia 529 College Savings 250, Kevin Harvick and Richard Childress Racing’s No. 33 Fast Fixin’ team battled a tight-handling condition to capture a third-place finish at Richmond International Raceway. Harvick led the field to the green flag after earning his 24th career NASCAR Nationwide Series pole during qualifying Friday afternoon. The Bakersfield, Calif., native led 69 laps while fighting a tight-handling condition on the Fast Fixin’ Chevrolet before crew chief, Ernie Cope, directed his driver to pit road on lap 70 for the team’s first pit stop during a caution period. The Fast Fixin’ crew put on four fresh tires, added fuel and made a chassis adjustment to help the handling of the No. 33 Chevrolet, the team’s quick stop allowed Harvick to restart the race first position. As green-flag racing resumed, the tight-handing condition continued to plague the two-time NASCAR Nationwide Series champion causing him to fall back to the second position. The Fast Fixin’ crew continued to make adjustments to the car during their final two pit stops, but the tight-handling condition ensued, and Harvick ultimately crossed the finish line third.
Start – 1 Finish – 3 Laps Led – 158 Owner’s Points – 3
KEVIN HARVICK QUOTE:
“We had a dominate car tonight, but we just weren’t able to be there at the end. We were hoping to put the Fast Fixin’ Chevrolet in victory lane, but we got too tight on the longer runs. It was a really exciting end to the race, just wish it would have got a little more exciting so we would have had a chance at the win.”
